Man-Made Earthquakes on the Rise, but Are We at Fault?

Man-made earthquakes are on the rise in the United States, but who is at fault? Some will blame climate change (also arguably induced by humans) while others will say human activity is responsible.

Regardless of the cause, there is no denying that earthquakes have made more of a rumble than usual in recent years. For example, from 1978 to 2008, Oklahoma averaged only two earthquakes over magnitude 3.0 per year, Nature World News previously reported. But midway through 2014, the state has already registered 230 quakes of that strength, surpassing California's record.

People are increasingly looking to hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" as it's commonly called - as the culprit. Fracking is a technique designed to obtain gas and oil from shale rock, according to BBC News. The process involves drilling down into the earth's surface followed by injecting water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to release gas from the rocks. The wastewater is then injected into subsurface wells to avoid contaminating water sources.

In addition to Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Ohio have also recently seen spikes in earthquakes near wastewater injection wells. It seems that the evidence is piling up and pointing to fracking more and more, although some remain skeptical.

"The Earth, and the science of how everything works, is so big," Oklahoma state representative Lewis Moore told Newsweek. "We are so minute. For us to think that we have so much to do with these things is almost ludicrous."

The History of Evading Blame

Trying to pin the blame on someone other than ourselves is nothing new. Humans used to believe good weather was a sign that the Gods were happy, while their disapproval resulted in natural phenomena like droughts, fires, or earthquakes.

In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Trajan and his people found themselves trying to dodge crumbling buildings as an earthquake shook the ancient city of Antioch. Trajan believed the spread of Christianity angered the Roman gods and so they sent the quake to retaliate against the townsfolk.

Fast forward to 1755 when a devastating quake hit Lisbon, Portugal - a disaster also blamed on religious differences between Christianity and Protestantism.

Even today, religion seems to be the easy scapegoat. According to The Advocate, Pat Robertson, a Southern Baptist minister, cited the 1994 San Fernando Valley earthquake - which killed 72 people - as God's way of showing his displeasure with gays and pro-choice activists.